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KENTUCKY PIONEER WOMEN 

COLUMBIAN POEMS AND PROSE 
SKETCHES BY MARY FLORENCE 
TANEY 




CINCINNATI PRESS OF 

ROBERT CLARKE AND COMPANY* 

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Copyright, 1893, 
By MARY FLORENCE TANEY. 



CONTENTS. 

The Rustic Parliament, - - - 13 

Rebecca Bryant Boone, - - - 21 
Capture and Rescue of the Misses Callaway and 

Boone, - - - - - 29 

Women Carry Water to the Fort, - 44 

Keturah Leitch Taylor, - - - 53 

Susanna Hart Shelby, ... 62 

Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge, - 73 

Henrietta Hunt Morgan, ... 82 

Susan Lucy Barry Taylor, - - -85 

Mary Yellott Johnston, - - - 91 

Margaret Wickliffe Preston, - - 95 



3Eo i^^ ffiemorp of 

Mary Hopkixs Cabell Breckenridge, 

Susanna Hart Shelby, 

Keturah Leitch Taylor, 

Rebecca Bryant Boone, 

Jemima Suggett Johnson, 

Elizabeth Callaway Henderson, 

Elizabeth Cook, 

Esther Devee Fowler, 

Ann Harrod, 

Betsey Montgomery, 

Jane Montgomery, 

Mrs. Wm. Coomes (the first school-teacher), 

Nancy Hanks Lincoln, 

Mary Blair Rice, 

Sally Shelby McDowell — 

Types of the Pioneer Women, whose names a grudging history 
has handed on to this generation — who established homes, founded 
families, introduced refinement and culture, and made civilization 
and sound morals permanent occupants of our State. 

To them and their descendants, and to the descendants of their 
co-workers, the good women of Kentucky, this little work is rev- 
erent! v and lovinglv dedicated. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 



Among the kind and generous friends to 
whom the author is indebted for historic facts, 
accurate dates, encouragement, and oftentimes 
inspiration, pre-eminent is Colonel Reuben 
T. Durrett, president of the Filson Club. 
Early in the preparation of the work the 
writer visited the famous Durrett Collection 
of Kentucky Relics, which are not surpassed, 
if equaled, in historic interest and variety by 
any collection in the United States. Portraits 
of Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, and other 
of the hero pioneers look from the walls upon 
ancient relics which were their contemporaries 

(5) 



6 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

and mute witnesses of their deeds. Among 
the interesting reHcs of a nearer and more 
personal nature, preserved with loving care 
by her distinguished son, is the saddle upon 
which Elizabeth Rawlings Durrett, the mother 
of Colonel Durrett, rode over the mountains 
from Virginia to Kentucky in 1810, by the 
classic wilderness road, so graphically de- 
scribed by Captain Thomas Speed. 

Also, to Judge William B, Kinkead for in- 
teresting reminiscences of pioneer life while 
the writer visited Lexington, going over the 
files of the Gazette for 1784 to 1792, to get 
in touch with the spirit of pioneer times ; to 
his two daughters. Miss Nellie Talbot Kin- 
kead and Miss Elizabeth Shelby Kinkead. 
Also, to Mrs. Judge James Mulligan. 

Among the historic portraits of great in- 



Acknowledgment. 7 

terest to the author was that of Mary Hop- 
kins Cabell Breckenridge, wife of Hon. John 
Breckenridge, and the progenitor of the dis- 
tinguished Breckenridge family. The sweet, 
strong face, firm and fearless, impressed the 
writer strongly as to the characteristics of 
this remarkable woman. The writer held for 
a moment, with reverent and loving touch, 
her little white satin wedding slipper of Lon- 
don make. 

Also, to Prof. N. S. Shaler, of Harvard 
University, and lastly to the descendants of 
the pioneers, the ladies of Kentucky, for 
their sweetness and cordiality, their goodness 
and beauty, which were ever a source of 
inspiration. 

Also, to the following members of the 
Filson Club : Reuben T. Durrett, Thomas 



8 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

Speed, Edmund T. Halsey, J. Stoddard 
Johnston, Richard W. Knott, Horatio W. 
Bruce, John B. Castleman, Basil W. Duke, 
Andrew Cowan, William H. Whitsett, Will- 
iam J. Davis, and James S. Pirtle. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Every state takes its character very largely 
from its first settlers. They establish and 
form its first institutions. They organize its 
society and give it tone. They form the nu- 
cleus around which growth is made, and the 
growth is arranged and permeated by their 
spirit. They transmit their qualities to their 
children, by whom subsequent accretions are 
directed and controlled. They fix the mold 
for coming society, cut the channels for law 
and history. 

The spirits of Boone and Callaway, of 
Henderson and Dandridge, of Slaughter and 

(9) 



lo Kentucky Pionee}" Wonie7t. 

Jouett, are as potent in our state as if they 
still walked the earth clad in complete steel. 

Our system of laws is but the expansion 
of the Acts of the Rustic Parliament. The 
influences that control society and direct 
public opinion, are only a multiple of the 
influences set in motion by the handful of 
settlers in the wilderness. 

It is therefore fitting and appropriate that 
we revive their memorials — hold their virtues 
in remembrance, and acquire some degree 
of elevation by our appreciation of their work 
and character. 

Any effort, however humble, in such a 
cause has the sanction of a good purpose, 
the praise of a noble aim. 

I can not, dare not, assume that I have 
written worthily; but if my feeble effort shall 



Introductory . 1 1 

suggest to any one, whose lips have been 
touched with sacred fire, that a theme worthy 
of a noble poem has lain neglected for many 
years, I will have accomplished a worthy 
purpose. If such a one should be inspired 
to sing into the people's hearts the char- 
acter and achievements of the founders of 
our State, I will have realized my highest 
wish. 



The Rustic Parliament. 13 



THE RUSTIC PARLIAMENT. 



Among all the incidents of the early set- 
tlement of Kentucky none is more significant 
than the Rustic Parliament which convened 
at Boonesborough, May 24, 1775. Seventeen 
delegates from as many settlements met, 
without other warrant than a common rever- 
ence for justice, through established institu- 
tions and public law. Without authority from 
King or Parliament, five hundred miles from 
organized society and civil government, scat- 
tered so widely that they might assume 
to enjoy unrestrained natural freedom, they 
speedily bound themselves by legal contracts 



14 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

and laid the foundation of an organized 
State. 

They were nominally within the jurisdic- 
tion of Virginia, as they were nominally sub- 
jects of the British crown. They had not 
heard of the battles at Lexington and Con- 
cord, and the Declaration of Independence 
was yet hidden in a swift-coming future. 
They had come to the wilderness without a 
charter, and under the popular imputation of 
fleeing from the control of law and the re- 
straints of orderly society. But the fountain 
of justice was open to them. They had 
higher authority than charter or enabling stat- 
ute. They replied to their calumniators by 
the enactment of laws for the establishment 
of courts of justice, for the common defense, 
for the collection of debts, for the punishment 



The Rzcstic Parliamefit. 15 

of crime, for the restraint of vice, for the en- 
couragement of good husbandry. The best 
work of their descendants has been done by 
building upon their foundations. They held 
their sessions under the "Divine Elm," the 
lonely giant, standing "on a beautiful plain, 
covered by a turf of fine white clover which 
made a thick carpet of green to the very 
stock of the tree. Its first branches sprang 
from the stem about nine feet from the 
ground, reaching uniformly in every direc- 
tion, so that the diameter was a hundred 
feet. Every fair day its shade describes a 
circuit upward of four hundred feet in extent. 
Between the hours of ten and two, a hundred 
persons could comfortably recline under its 
shade." 

Nothing in the situation or surroundings, 



1 6 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

or in far-reaching effects and influences, is 
wanting to the picturesque beauty or the 
historic significance of this memorable as- 
sembly. It has been justly said that Mari- 
etta, Ohio, is the gateway by which law en- 
tered the great North-west Territory ; but the 
fact ought not to be overlooked, that law 
entered the Mississippi Valley by way of the 
mountain passes^ carved by the headwaters of 
the Cumberland and Kentucky rivers, and 
set up its perpetual standard at Boones- 
borough. 

Equally suggestive is the other service 
held under that "Divine Elm." Those pio- 
neers were not learned in history or philos- 
ophy, but they knew the full meaning of the 
word " duty," and their courage and reso- 
lution reverently bowed before the mighty 



The Rustic Parliament. 17 

power above them. They had not sophis- 
ticated themselves into the beHef that God 
can be ignored, or his laws safely dispensed 
with. On the Sabbath they met in " God's 
first temple," and in prayer and praise ac- 
knowledged their own dependence and gave 
thanks to the Giver of all good. 

In both respects they are an example ; 
laying the foundation of a State reverently 
and in righteousness. 

The names of the seventeen delegates, 
worthy to be associated with the "pilgrims" 
who ordained civil government on board the 
Mayflower, with the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and the noble company 
of wise founders of States, are as follows: 

Squire Boone, Daniel Boone, Samuel Hen- 
derson, William Moore, Richard Callaway, 



1 8 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

Thomas Slaughter, John Lythe, Valentine 
Harmon, James Douglass, James Harrod, Na- 
than Hammond, Isaac Hite, Azariah David, 
John Todd, Alexander Spotswood Dandridge, 
John Floyd, and Samuel Wood. 



The Rustic Parliament. 19 



THE RUSTIC PARLIAMENT. 

I. 

Canopied by the majestic, sheltering elm, 
God's promise and foretaste of bounty to this realm, 
A chamber for council, a temple for praise and prayer, 
They adored their fathers' God in love and fear ; 
And in His name framed their just and equal laws, 
And craved His gracious favor for a worthy cause. 

11. 

Divine Elm ! Its stately beauty graces all the scene, 
Its circling shade moves noiseless on the broidered green, 
Its pliant, trailing branches drink the morning dew, 
Its towering crown reaches far in heaven's blue, 
Nobler far than Bashan's Oak, or orient palm. 
By night or day, in heat or cold, in storm or calm. 



20 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

III. 

Far from lands of law, they firmly held to all that's just, 
And builded quick the stately dome of equity, 

To shield and guard the innocent, and smite to dust 
The haughty crest of heartless tyranny. 



Rebecca Bryaitt Boone. 21 



REBECCA BRYANT BOONE. 



Rebecca Bryant, who married Daniel 
Boone about 1755, in the Yadkin settlement 
in Western North Carolina, and her daughter, 
Jemima, are said to have been the first white 
women to become residents of Kentucky. 
Perhaps no woman of our State ever had a 
more varied experience of the hardships, 
privations, and tragedies of pioneer life. 

In 1773, in company with her husband, 
who had previously visited Kentucky, she set 
out for the new Canaan. In Powell's Valley 
they were joined by five other families and 
forty armed men. Near the Cumberland 



2 2 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

Mountains the company was attacked by In- 
dians, and six of the men were killed, among 
whom was her eldest son. 

They retreated to the valley of the Clinch 
River, where Mrs. Boone lived with her re- 
maining children until September, 1775. Dur- 
ing this period, her husband, under employ- 
ment of Governor Dunmore, had conducted a 
surveying party from tide-water to the Falls 
of the Ohio, a distance of about eight hundred 
miles. He also visited Central Kentucky, 
and took part as a delegate in the Rustic 
Parliament, held in May, 1775. 

He returned to the Clinch River and 
brought his wife and family to Boonesbor- 
ough, arriving September 8, 1775. 

In February, 1778, he was captured by 
the Indians while leading a party attempting 



Rebecca Bryant Boone. 23 

to secure a supply of salt. He was carried 
north of the Ohio River, and adopted by 
a noted chief, through the ceremony of pluck- 
ing out all his hair except the scalp-lock, 
and a thorough washing in a neighboring 
brook. 

His wife hearing no tidings of him, natur- 
ally supposed that he had been killed, and 
taking her children, returned to the Yadkin, 
in North Carolina. In June, 1778, at extreme 
peril of his life, he escaped, pursued by In- 
dians, and returned to Boonesborough to 
notify the station of a coming Indian raid. 
"I left old Chillicothe," he says, "on the 
1 6th, and in four days reached Boonesbor- 
ough, a distance of one hundred and sixty 
miles, having eaten but one meal during 
that time." 



24 Kentucky Pioneer Wo7nen. 

In the following autumn he joined his wife 
and family, and returned, bringing them with 
him, to Kentucky in 1780. 

In 1782, Mrs. Boone was again bereaved 
by the death of a son killed in the memo- 
rable massacre at Blue Lick Springs, where 
another son was seriously wounded. Her 
later days were spent in Missouri, where she 
died in 18 13. In 1845 ^^^ remains, with 
those of her husband, who died in 1820, were 
returned to the State, whose history they 
had so signally illustrated, and buried at 
Frankfort. This was done in pursuance of 
concurrent action by the citizens of Frankfort 
and the legislature of the State. 

Like a majority of the greatest heroes, 
Rebecca Bryant Boone has had slight no- 
tice from history. Glimpses of her are 



Rebecca Bryant Boone. 25 

caught only as her famous husband opens the 
door to come or go. But it requires little 
imagination, and little loving sympathy, to 
restore her to view. Her lonely and heroic 
life, her long, wearisome waiting for the re- 
turn of husband to wife and children, her 
heart-rending bereavements, her endurance in 
perils and journeying, her patience and equa- 
nimity by which she could sustain such efforts, 
until she had passed the allotted three score 
and ten, confer upon her a much higher dis- 
tinction than the accidental one of being the 
first white woman to take up her abode in 
the State. 

They mark her as the most complete type 
of the wife and mother, who made the pioneers 
settlers in homes, and not mere bush-rangers, 
who pass and leave no trace. She and others 



26 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

like her were the complement of the adven- 
turous Saxon, who always came to stay, to 
subdue the land, to build the home, to inau- 
gurate the family, to enforce justice, and over 
all to spread the beneficent canopy of estab- 
lished order. 



Rebecca Biyant Boone. 27 



REBECCA BRYANT BOONE. 

I. 

September's sun with mellow beam smiles upon the plain, 
All is silent, save the south wind rustles in the cane, 
And the wood-pecker beats the hollow-sounding tree, 
Or the ivory-bill screams his piercing minstrelsy. 

II. 

Down the trace, through the cane, strides the mighty 

hunter, Boone, 
Homeward, shod with silence, as the sun touched 

the noon; 
Wife and child, eager waiting, greet him at the door, 
And the hero's heart leaps as he clasps them o'er 

and o'er. 



28 Kenhtcky Pio?ieer Wome?i. 

III. 

Then a vision of the Yadkin, where first they met, 
And the shining of her eyes he never can forget ; 
Of the home she had left, to become a faithful wife, 
And glorify the wilderness with the blessing of her life. 

IV. 

All within is neat; brightly shines the puncheon floor, 
For Rebecca had been trained in useful household lore ; 
And the simple table, piled with nature's gifts, was spread 
With bear steak and wild lettuce, and venison for bread. 



The wild plum, and pawpaw, and the grape crowned the 

board, 
And freedom, love, and health, beyond the miser's hoard; 
All honor to Kentucky's primal mother, wife, 
The worthy harbinger of coming love and life. 



Capture by the Indians. 29 



Capture of Elizabeth and Frances 
Callaway and Jemima Boone by 
THE Indians. 



The capture and recovery of Elizabeth 
and Frances Callaway and Jemima Boone, is 
a striking illustration of the dangers amid 
which the pioneers lived, and of the prompt- 
ness and intrepidity with which they met and 
overcame them. 

At Boonesborough, on Sunday, July 14, 
1776, late in the afternoon, these three girls, 
aged sixteen and fourteen years, were amus- 
ing themselves in a canoe on the Kentucky 
River. Suddenly five Indians rushed upon 



30 Kentucky Pioneer IVonen. 

them and made them prisoners. The girls 
fought desperately, one of the Indians being 
gashed to the skull by the blow of an oar 
in the hands of Elizabeth Callaway, the elder 
of the three. 

Their capture was made known only by 
their failure to return, and it required no pro- 
longed inquiry by the experienced woodsmen 
to decide upon the fact, or to ascertain the 
direction and route taken by the Indians. 
Callaway and Boone, the fathers of the capt- 
ured girls, and three young men, namely, 
Samuel Henderson, John Holder, and Flan- 
ders Callaway, their affianced lovers, set off 
at once on foot in pursuit. They were soon 
followed by William B. Smith, Catlett Jones, 
Bartlett Searcy, and John Floyd, on horse- 
back, who overtook Boone and his compan- 



Capture by the Indians. 31 

ions before nightfall about five miles from 
BoonesboroLigh. 

It being impossible to follow the trail in 
the darkness, the pursuers were compelled to 
halt during the night. From the first clear 
light next morning to the last glow of day, 
they swept on in the pursuit, following a trail 
as clear to them as the king's highway, but 
indistinguishable by untrained senses. 

The captive girls, not doubting of pursuit, 
contributed broken twigs, bits of cloth or any 
other token to mark their way, though threat- 
ened with instant death, and sometimes men- 
aced with the upraised tomahawk. 

The pursuers were compelled to halt for 
another night, but not long after starting on 
the third morning, they came upon the camp 
they had so eagerly sought. Their great fear 



32 Kentucky Pio7ieer Wo7nen. 

was that the girls might become too much 
wearied to keep pace with their captors, and 
be murdered to secure their scalps as tro- 
phies. 

The Indians and their pursuers each saw 
the other about the same time. The latter 
knew the extreme need of instant action, 
lest the Indians might murder the girls to 
prevent their recapture. 

Four of the pursuers discharged their 
guns instantly, and all made a rush for the 
camp. The Indians fled without resistance, 
and without securing any thing but a shot- 
gun without ammunition. The effect of the 
firing by the whites was never known, but 
it was afterward learned that but one of the 
Indians ever reached his tribe. The pur- 
suers were too intent upon rescue, and too 



Capture by the Indiajis. ^tZ 

well satisfied with their success, to hunt to 
the death the fleeing Indians. 

The following incident of the capture has 
thrilling interest: 

Elizabeth Callaway had a dark complex- 
ion, which was rendered more swarthy by 
fatigue and exposure. Sitting by the roots 
of a tree, her head bound with a red ban- 
dana, she comforted her younger companions 
in misery, who reclined with their heads in 
her lap. One of the pursuers, mistaking her 
for an Indian woman, clubbed his musket 
and raised it to dash out her brains. An- 
other of the rescuers who had recognized 
her, seized his arm in time to prevent the 
horrid tragedy. The narrow escape, with its 
suggestion of terrible possibilties, gave a mel- 
ancholy tinge to their rejoicing. 



34 Ke?itucky Pioneer Women. 



CAPTURE OF ELIZABETH AND FRANCES 
CALLAWAY AND JEMIMA BOONE, BY 
THE INDIANS, JULY 14, 1776. 

I. 

'T was late one quiet Sabbath day, 
The westering sun hung low ; 

Three maidens fair in joyous play 

Were floating in their light canoe. 

II. 

All nature seemed at perfect peace, 
The water mirrored back the hills. 

The stately trees with quiet grace, 

Looked down upon the sleeping rills. 



Capture by the Indians. 35 



III. 

The sun aslant sent down its beams 
To tint the waters with its gold, 

They feared not man nor wraith upon the stream, 
Until the yell that made them cold. 

IV. 

Five savage men on serpents' trail. 

Into that scene of peace had crept, — 

Their hideous yell, the maidens' wail, — 
And hills and trees in horror wept. 

V. 

The cry for help went out in vain, 

The cliffs sent back a mocking sound, " 

In vain they battled might and main. 
Worthy the hero blood they owned. 



3^ Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

VI. 

Across the stream, and o'er the plains 

Through wood and brake, o'er hill and brook, 

In captive bonds they dragged their chains. 
Their way in savage thrall they took. 

VII. 

The sun went down, the woods grcAv dark, 
The pitying stars look dimly down; 

Kind nature seemed to feel and mark 
Their rayless sorrow for her own. 

VIII. 

Exhausted nature called surcease; 

The captives, held with cruel care. 
Sank down to rest, but not in ease, 

For doleful sounds disturbed the air. 



Capture by the Indians. 37 

IX. 

Another day, — a summer's day, 

Through forest drear they northward sped, 
Till darkness barred the hopeless way, 

And night brought naught but grief and dread. 

X. 

With wakeful hours and fitful sleep, 

The night was passed in doubt and fear; 

Why should they painful vigils keep? 

Why should no help or friends be near? 



38 Ke7itucky Piojieer Women. 



THE PURSUIT. 



The settlers, busy with their toils and cares, 

Felt no concern and knew no cause for fear, 

Like soldiers trained, with peril long acquaint, 

They felt at ease though danger might be near. 

II. 

The hallowed hour of quiet evening came, 

When all things harmless seek for safe repose, 

The absent ones sought out their sheltering homes ; 

But three came not, and deadly, sickening fear arose. 

III. 

No witness saw the jewels rapt away. 

In vain the eager quest, the loud halloo ; 

Alas ! the cruel truth was plainly told. 
By the drifting, tenantless canoe. 



The Pursuit. 39 

IV. 

One house bereaved, had lost a first-born son,* 
Who fell before the hard, relentless foe. 

But this dark captivity is harder yet, 

Surcharged with all that men call grief and woe. 

V. 

No time to weep, — action instant and alert, 

This is the creed of men who built our state; 

Stern duty, rescue first; then loving tribute, 

All that pours from generous hearts, with joy elate. 

VI. 

Two fathers, three lovers, husbands yet to be, 
Seize their trusty rifles, enduring no delay, 

Stride forward, keen as wolves and fleet as deer, 
On the trail, with lingering light of day. 



* Boone's eldest son was killed on the first attempt to reach 
Kentucky with his family. 



40 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

VII. 

"Who rides may follow," rang their bold farewell, 

Time hastens, and love ne'er waits for man or horse. 

They '11 track the fleeing savage while they may, 

And leaving tokens on the trail, mark their course. 

VIII. 

Into the forest dark, scanning every leaf, 

And twig, and blade of grass, and ground between ; 
They swiftly follow, without halt or doubt, 

Like "hound sagacious on the tainted green." 

IX. 

Darkness hid the trail ; they waited for the day, 
As men cast away watch for morning light ; 

Their burden dire of mercy and of wrath 

Allowed them nothing but the horrors of the night. 



The Ptirs2iit. 41 

X. 

The livelong day they kept the dim-marked trail, 
Another night of dismal doubt and fear, 

But faith and hope were kept aglow 

By tokens left in hope by those most dear. 

XI. 

But hearts of oak and thews of finest steel 

Shall win and wear the victor's oaken wreath, 

And high-bred Saxon vanquish savage men, 

And love is stronger still than hate or death. 



42 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 



CONCLUSION. 

I. 

On Tuesday morn, as daylight touched the skies, 

The Httle band in haste took up the obscure trail, 

With rapid stride, and piercing watchfulness. 
Fearing their urgent zeal might sadly fail. 

Or time misplaced make free their deadly foe, 

And dearest friends consign to unknown woe. 

II. 

Soon their joy was full, — joy stern and deep, 
As when the hero, generous and brave, 

Forgets his hardships, dangers, struggles, toils, 
The helpless and the innocent to save; 

And wreak just vengeance full and free 

Upon the devotees of cruelty. 



Conclusion. 43 

III. 

The clear rifle's ring, the soul-stirring cheer, 

The headlong rush, the craven, coward flight, 

The joyous hail, the tender, sweet embrace, — 
Sorrow turns to joy, gloom to purest light. 

Courage and love had won their victory, 

The foe had fled, the captive maids were free. 

IV. 

Their lightsome homeward march in safety sped, 
No conqueror e'er won such goodly fame, 

For homes were filled with love and life. 

And gratitude and love hand down their name. 

From all there came the gladsome sound, — 

The dead is alive and the lost is found. 



44 Ke7itMcky Pio7ieer Women. 



Women Carry Water to the Fort. 



On the night of August 14, 1782, Indians 
estimated to be six hundred in number, sur- 
rounded Bryant's Station. Their approach 
was so stealthy that the garrison had no in- 
timation of their coming. On the morning 
of the 15th they showed themselves, and 
made demonstrations on one side of the 
fort. The men able to bear arms had been 
mustered, ready to march to Hoy's Station, 
from which a rumor had arrived the evening 
before, bringing an announcement of danger 
from Holder's defeat. If the enemy had re- 
mained concealed a few hours the fighting 



Women Carry Water to the Foi't. 45 

men would have been gone, and the fort 
would have been scarcely defensible. 

The source of supply of water was from 
a spring at the distance of several rods from 
the fort. It was soon observed that every 
thing was quiet in that direction, though in 
the opposite direction the enemy was aggres- 
sive and noisy. It was readily concluded 
that an ambush had been prepared, and the 
enemy hoped to attract the garrison to give 
battle outside, while those concealed near the 
spring might storm one of the gates. 

Mr. McClunof, in his "Sketches of West- 
ern Adventure," has preserved an anecdote 
of female intrepidity connected with the siege. 

"The more experienced of the garrison 
felt satisfied that a powerful party was in 
ambush near the spring, but at the same time 



46 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

they supposed that the Indians would not 
unmask themselves until the firing on the 
opposite side of the fort was returned with 
such warmth as to induce the belief that the 
feint had succeeded. 

"Acting upon this impression, and yielding 
to the urgent necessity of the case, they sum- 
moned all the women, without exception, and 
explaining to them the circumstances in which 
they were placed, and the improbability that 
any injury would be offered them until the 
firing had been returned from the opposite 
side of the fort, they urged them to go in a 
body to the spring and each of them bring 
up a bucketful of water. Some of the ladies, 
as was natural, had no relish for the under- 
taking, and asked why the men could not 
bring the water as well as themselves, ob- 



Women Carry Water to the For't. 47 

serving that they were not bullet-proof, and 
that the Indians made no distinction between 
male and female scalps. 

"To this it was answered that women were 
in the habit of bringing water every morning 
to the fort, and that if the Indians saw them 
engaged as usual it would induce them to 
think that their ambuscade had been undis- 
covered, and that they would not unmask 
themselves for the sake of firing at a few 
women, when they hoped, by remaining con- 
cealed a few moments longer, to obtain com- 
plete possession of the fort. That if men 
should go down to the spring the Indians 
would immediately suspect that something 
was wrong, would despair of succeeding by 
ambuscade, and would instantly rush upon 
them, follow them into the fort, and shoot 



48 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

them down at the spring. The decision was 
soon made. 

"A few of the boldest declared their will- 
ingness to brave the danger, and the younger 
and more timid, rallying in the rear of these 
veterans, they all marched down in a body to 
the spring, within point-blank shot of more 
than five hundred Indian warriors. Some of 
the girls could not help betraying symptoms 
of terror, but the married women, in general, 
moved with a steadiness and composure that 
completely deceived the Indians. Not a shot 
was fired. The party were permitted to fill 
their buckets, one after another, without in- 
terruption, and although their steps became 
quicker and quicker on their return, and when 
near the gate of the fort, degenerated into 
a rather unmilitary celerity, attended by some 



Women Carry Water to the Fort. 49 

little crowding in passing the gate, yet not 
more than one-fifth of the water was spilled, 
and the eyes of the youngest had not dilated 
to more than double thfeir ordinary size." 



50 Ketitucky Pioneer Women. 



WOMEN CARRY WATER TO THE FORT. 

I. 

Husbands, wives, and helpless little ones, 
Were roused from sleep at break of day 

By roaring guns, and savage shouts, 

To find their fort beleagured, and the fray 

With foes whose touch is cruel death. 

Was loudly told with every passing breath. 

- 'II. 

And yet from one direction comes no sound, 

But silence there proclaims to all 
The hidden foes, and deadly ambuscade 

Prepared for those who come at morning call, 
To bring from out the dell, the day's supply 
Of water, without which all there must die. 



Women Carry Water to the Fort. 5 1 

III. 

To disappoint the lurking, savage foe, 

And overcome with wiser guile, 
To save their warrior men for greater need, 

And gain sore needed time the while, 
Matron and maid were marshaled at the gate, 
For daring enterprise, defying fate. 

IV. 

Equipped with pails, instead of guns and swords, 

They took their usual trodden path, 
And naught in voice or gait betrayed their fears. 

Though well they knew they walked with death. 
They safely passed the deadly ambuscade, 
And safe returned, — their stout hearts undismayed. 

V. 

The little fortress now secure and strong. 
Defiant shouts go out afar, 



52 Ke7ttucky Pioneer Women. 

The valiant men, and maids and matrons brave, 

Make ready for the shock of war; 
No hope of mercy weakens their resolve, 
From victory to death their thoughts revolve. 



Keturah Leitch Taylor. 53 



KETURAH LEITCH TAYLOR. 



Born, Keturah Moss, September 11, 1773, 
in Goochland county, Virginia. Her father, 
Major Hugh Moss, formerly of the Revolu- 
tionary Army, died while she was a child. 
In the spring of 1784, she, with two sisters, 
aged fourteen and ten, was brought to Ken- 
tucky by an uncle. Rev. Augustine Eastin, 
her mother having previously married Captain 
Joseph Farrar, 

During this journey, at nightfall a party 
of about forty emigrants passed Mr. Eastin's 
camp, disregarding his invitation and warning 
to remain until morning. About daybreak a 



54 Kentucky Pioneer Wo7ne?i, 

woman with an infant in her arms aroused 
the camp with the horrible tidings that Indians 
had broken in upon the advanced camp, mur- 
dering many and dispersing the others. Mr. 
Eastin's company buried the dead bodies and 
gathered up the scattered remnants of the 
adventurous pioneers whose caution fell so 
far short of their intrepidity. The dreadful 
spectacle witnessed by the little girl remained 
all her life, especially the scalp of a fair-haired 
girl, "all dabbled with her blood." 

In 1790, she married Major David Leitch, 
a cultured Scotchman. He died four years 
afterward. In 1791, she and her husband 
journeyed to Maysville and Cincinnati, thence 
to Frankfort by way of a stockade at the 
mouth of the Kentucky River. 

At the stockade they were furnished an 



Keturah Leitch Taylor. 55 

escort for twenty miles. Mr. Thomas Lind- 
say was of the company. An Indian was 
discovered lurking in the bushes, a sure in- 
dication of danger. The men rallied around 
Mrs. Leitch and endeavored to hurry her for- 
ward. But Mr. Lindsay was some distance 
in the rear and unconscious of danger. Mrs. 
Leitch refusing for the moment the gallant 
efforts of the escort, rode back rapidly to 
warn Mr. Lindsay — an act most characteris- 
tic of her, in its evidence of courage, thought- 
fulness, and self-sacrifice. 

To quote from her own letter, written in 

1858: 

"I was well acquainted with Generals 
Harmer, St. Clair, Wilkinson, and Wayne, 
and was at Fort Washington when St. Clair 
marched against the Indians in 1791, and 



56 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

assisted the ladies of the fort in making 
knapsacks and preparing coffee for the sol- 
diers who served in that unfortunate cam- 
paign." 

In 1795, she married James Taylor, of 
Newport, formerly of Virginia, who had settled 
on his father's estate two years before. 

Her descendants are well known under 
the names of Ward, Foote, O'Fallon, Van 
Voast, Jones, Abert, Taylor, Saunders, Hodge, 
(Geo. W.) Jones, Timberlake, Mrs. Crozet, 
Williamson, Price, and Bowler. 



Keturah Leitch Taylor. 57 

MRS. GENERAL JAMES TAYLOR. 

I. 

My lady rides the forest through, 

And mounted guards are at her side ; 

My lady, joyous in her youth, 

Kentucky knew no fairer bride. 

IL 

What sudden darkness dims the day? 

The lurking red man bars the way. 
The guards alarmed : " O lady, fly, 

For if o'ertaken, thou must die." 

in. 

A backward glance my lady took, 

And there beside the purling brook, 

Not knowing of his dreadful need, 
Caressing his gentle faithful steed, 



58 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

IV. 

Who drank the waters clear and cool, 
From out the dark secluded pool, 

Her kind, good friend of other days, 
Loitered, unlearned in savage ways. 

V. 

Back rode my lady, the signal gave. 

And risked her life a friend's to save. 

She went and came and had no harm, 

But love and courage make the charm. 

And not the great resounding name 

From deeds of strife which men call fame. 



Keturah Leitch Taylor. 59 



KETURAH LEITCH, AFTERWARD MRS. 
GENERAL JAMES TAYLOR, MINISTER- 
ING TO GENERAL ST. CLAIR'S SOLDIERS 
AT FORT WASHINGTON, IN 1791. 

I. 

The soldiers had gathered for war, 
They met in a wilderness wide, 

A fort by the beautiful river, 

A way through the forest untried. 

XL 

A merciless foe is before, 

Unpitying nature around. 
The hardships of camp and of march. 

And the horrors of battle abound. 



6o Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

III. 

There was no mother's tender care, 

Nor sister's watchful, loving pains. 

Nor could a people's ministry 

Cross mountains high and desert plains. 

IV. 

One lady, loving and beloved. 

With love entire a lesson taught. 

Of lowly service, love divine, 

Bestowing all and asking naught. 



She nursed the sick with studious care. 

Upheld the right, rebuked the wrong ; 

With tender grace and courage high, 

She cheered the weak and warned the strong. 



Keturah Leitch Taylor. 6i 

VI. 

The first to give her cares and pains 

To men who bow at freedom's shrine, 

She leads the host of shining ones 

Whose deeds have made their Hves divine. 



62 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 



SUSANNA HART SHELBY. 



Susanna Hart was born in Caswell county, 
North Carolina, February i8, 1761, and died 
at Traveler's Rest, Lincoln county, Ky., June 
1 9' 1833, aged seventy-two years. 

She was the daughter of Captain Nathan- 
iel Hart and Sarah Simpson. Nathaniel Hart 
was the son of Thomas Hart of Hanover 
county, Virginia, and Susanna Rice. (Sus- 
anna Rice was a member of the celebrated 
Presbyterian Rice family.) Nathaniel Hart 
was born in 1734, and at an early age re- 
moved with his mother to North Carolina. 
In 1760, he married Sarah Simpson, daugh- 



Susanna Hart Shelby. 63 

ter of Colonel Richard Simpson and Miss 
Kinchelo, and resided at his country seat, 
the Red House, in Caswell county, North 
Carolina, until his removal to Kentucky, in 
1779. 

The Harts were very wealthy people for 
those early times. Nathaniel Hart and his 
two brothers, David and Thomas (Thomas 
was the father of Mrs. Henry Clay), with 
two others, formed the company known as 
Henderson and Company, proprietors of the 
'* Colony of Transylvania in America." 

This purchase from the Indians consisted 
of almost the entire state of Kentucky. How- 
ever, the legislature of Virginia made null 
and void this first transaction, but assigned 
to them 200,000 acres of land — for which they 
paid 10,000 pounds sterling — for the import- 



64 Kentzicky Pioneer Women. 

ant service they had rendered In opening the 
country. This company first sent Daniel 
Boone to Kentucky to pioneer the way for 
them. 

In April, 1784, she was married to Colonel 
Isaac Shelby, who became the first governor 
of the State. It was largely due to his un- 
flinching patriotism and courage that the State 
was safely piloted through the troublous times 
of adjusting early complications, especially 
those caused by the conflicts with the Span- 
iards over the navigation of the Mississippi 
River, and the treasonable efforts to abandon 
the American Union and coalesce with Spain. 

Colonel Shelby had visited Kentucky in 
1776, but was occupied with faithful and dis- 
tinguished service in the Revolutionary War 
until after the capture of Cornwallis. In 1782, 



Susanna Hart Shelby. 65 

he again visited Kentucky, and in the fort at 
Boonesborough met Susanna Hart, then an 
orphan, her father having recently been killed 
by Indians. 

The marriage took place in the stockade 
fort at Boonesborough. The incident is strik- 
ing and suggestive. We can with difficulty 
picture the wedding scene — among the most 
primitive surroundings, and these suggesting 
war and not peace. Of one thing we are 
sure, that there was quite as much of honest 
love, and of confidence and trusting faith, as 
if the ceremony had been heralded by the 
pealing organ, and celebrated amid banks of 
costly flowers, and graced with charming 
maids and gallant attendants. 

With all the trials and dangers of early 
colonization there was never any interruption 



66 Keiitucky Pioneer Women. 

of the family. At this time the state was 
not formed. Orderly government existed only 
in vigorous germs. The church was not or- 
ganized. Loyal and devout men were ready 
to organize, build, and maintain both, but 
there was no man a partaker in those labors 
but that a woman was his helper, exposed 
to greater dangers and severer hardships. 
Wives came with husbands, sons and daugh- 
ters with the families to which they belonged, 
and marrying and giving in marriage went on, 
never doubting permanent occupation, even 
when the battle was most strenuous. 

It is this feature that has made the Anglo- 
Saxon the colonizer of the world, enabling 
him to seize and hold continents, and extend 
his language and literature and institutions 
around the world. It was the want of this 



Susanna Hart Shelby. 67 

characteristic that made French and Spanish 
and Portuguese colonization a half success, 
or a dismal failure. The Saxon will continue 
to seize and govern the world only so long as 
a pure family and heroic women are his un- 
failing allies. 

As soon as more peaceful conditions made 
it possible to live in the open country the 
Shelby family fixed their home in Lincoln 
county, upon a generous domain, where was 
built the first stone house in the State. It 
was a far-famed residence ; from its wide hos- 
pitality known as "Traveler's Rest." 

It is said that Governor Shelby was the 
only one of all the pioneers who retained 
until his death the lands which he pre- 
empted. "Traveler's Rest" still remains in 
possession of his descendants. 



68 Kentucky Pioneer Women, 

The mistress of "Traveler's Rest" orave 
assurance before her marriage that she ex- 
pected to be a helper and not a burden to 
her husband, in the preparation with her own 
hands of her bridal attire, and doubtless much 
else of use in coming years. It is an authen- 
tic fact that she raised and pulled the flax 
which she spun and wove into her wedding 
gown "with an art so clever that she could 
draw the widths through her wedding ring." 
The ring and gown are still preserved. From 
infancy she had, by precept and example, 
learned and practiced self help and help to 
others. 

Her likeness tells at once of strength and 
balance in her character. A pleasing face, 
without wrinkles, an expression quiet and 
settled, suggests a rare combination of en- 



Susanna Ha7't Shelby. 69 

ergy and repose. No lines indicate worry or 
care. It is the face of one who with equal 
composure, could perform or endure, who 
wasted no strength of body or mind in hur- 
ried action, or distracted feelings ; who could 
be kind and helpful without oppressive dem- 
onstration, and commanding without offensive 
assumption. It is a face to sumxmon and 
retain confidence, a temperament to hold 
beauty into venerable age, and transmit its 
charms to her descendants. 

She was the mother of ten children, all 
of whom grew to adult age. Her descend- 
ants are scattered widely, and in a large 
degree they still exhibit the traits of char- 
acter which belonged to Governor Shelby 
and Susanna Hart — courageous, self-reliant, 
and public-spirited. 



^ Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

MRS. GOVERNOR ISAAC SHELBY. 

I. 

The April skies are soft and blue, 

The service trees are all abloom ; 

The crab-tree blossoms fill the air, 

With beauty fair and sweet perfume. 

II. 

All earth is fair, and fairer still 

The youthful bride, whose radiant face 

Proclaims the coming of her lord, 

The bridegroom famed in war and peace. 

III. 

The bridegroom found a worthy bride. 
Whose courage high, and lofty aim. 

Made her the queen of "Traveler's Rest," 
Whose history is in its name. 



Susanna Hart Shelby. "Ji 



IV. 



The heart, like steel in battle's fray, 
Was soft beneath the magic spell ; 

The ungloved hand that smote the foe 
Would her protect, whate'er befell. 



With distaff, needle, spindle, loom. 
From flaxen wool of lordly lands, 

Her robe of silken thread and sheen 

Was wrought complete by her fair hands. 

VI. 

Secure within the strong stockade, 
With prayer and benison of hope. 

The hand that held the deadly sword 

Received the hand that wove the robe. 



72 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

VII. 

Not robes of silk, nor viands rare, 

Nor garments wove beyond the seas. 

Nor vain parade, nor empty pomp, 
Nor luxury, nor selfish ease, 

VIII. 

Subdued the desert wide and drear, 

And made its wilds rejoice and sing. 

But men and matrons strong and free. 
Whose deeds were all their offering. 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge. J2> 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge. 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge was 
born in Virginia, in 1768, and died at Lex- 
ington, Kentucky, in 1858, at the unusual 
age of ninety years. She married Hon. John 
Breckenridge, who was about eight years her 
senior, in 1785, and removed to Lexington in 
1793. Soon after they made their home at 
" Cabell's Dale," the well-known name of 
their country home. 

Her illustrious husband devoted much of 
his time to public duties, and died in 1806, 
soon after his appointment to be Attorney- 
General of the United States. Her girlhood 



74 Kentucky Pio7ieer Women. 

and youth of seventeen years, and her mar- 
ried life of twenty-one years, was followed 
by a widowhood of fifty-two years ! At thirty- 
eight years she was left with six children, 
four sons and two daughters, and the care 
of the estate of her deceased husband. 

The situation in itself was not so unusual 
as to confer distinction, but it afforded her a 
conspicuous opportunity to win distinction by 
the exceptional courage and fidelity with which 
she assumed her duties, and the signal success 
which she achieved. Few women in the state 
have made or deserved such a name. With- 
out other stage than her home, without going 
beyond the sphere of a faithful and wise 
mother, without literary trumpet to sound 
her deeds, or to commemorate her noble 
character, she has nevertheless become fa- 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge. 75 

mous. Passing from one to another in social 
conversation, her strongly defined individu- 
ality, her racy speech, her strong common 
sense, her incisive opinions, her devotion to 
duty and disregard of pretenses and shams, 
have become more widely known than the 
traits of most of those who have been elabo- 
rately written in books, in the vain hope of 
perpetuating their memory. Her fame en- 
dures and increases because it is of those 
things "that posterity will not willingly let 
die." 

It has been said that talent is not gener- 
ally hereditary, but rather courage and char- 
acter are transmitted as a family heritage. 
Without attempting to decide as to heredi- 
tary talent, is there not abundant evidence 
of the transmission of courage and character 



76 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

in the numerous and widely scattered de- 
scendants of Mary Hopkins Cabell Breck- 
enridge ? Not only in those who bear the 
honored name of Breckenridge, which for gen- 
erations has been a synonym for courage and 
character, but the traits appear in many other 
names — Porter, Castleman, Bullock — who in- 
herit the same blood through the female line. 
She was not only the "founding mother" of 
a worthy and distinguished family, but one 
of the founding mothers of our State. 

Her descendants may justly be said to 
belong to an aristocracy of courage and char- 
acter, the only aristocracy possible in our 
country, an aristocracy whose sinews have 
strung the republic, whose blood has circu- 
lated, warm and pure, through the heart of 
the country, elevating and sweetening society. 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge. ']'] 

It has been said with much truth that the 
world knows nothing of its greatest men. 
Their work was not performed to the sound 
of trumpets, and before the gaze of the world. 
The historic muse never took them under her 
patronage. While their names were "writ in 
water," their influence endures forever. 

However this may be, it is beyond doubt 
true of earth's greatest women. From Rachel 
to Victoria a few have attained fame and im- 
mortality. But the greatest are not upon 
the scroll of history. Their names are hid- 
den in the works they have achieved, and in 
the children whose character they formed, 
only to be fully made known when the day 
dawns and the shadows flee away. 

Six of her children lived to maturity and 
left descendants. Her four sons rose to emi- 



78 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

nence. Three of them were emuient preach- 
ers, noted for eloquence, courage and patri- 
otism, namely, Robert Jefferson, John, and 
William Lewis. Their descendants are found 
in Missouri, Kentucky, and Arkansas. One 
son, Joseph Cabell, the father of Vice-presi- 
dent John C. Breckenridge, became a lawyer 
and died comparatively young, but not until 
he had held important positions, and shown 
commanding character and ability. 

Of her two daughters, Mary married 
David Castleman, and Letitia Preston mar- 
ried General P. B. Porter, of Niagara Falls. 
One of her descendants was the General 
Peter A. Porter who fell in the terrible as- 
sault upon Coal Harbor. 

A granddaughter, Margaret E. Brecken- 
ridge, daughter of Dr. John Breckenridge, 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge. 79 

during the Civil War gained the name of the 
"angel of the hospitals" by her gentle and 
self-sacrificing ministry. It was she who said: 
"Shall men die by thousands for their country 
and no woman risk her life?" She lost her 
life, but gained it in a divine work. 

At the end of her long widowhood, the 
grave of her husband at Cabell's Dale in the 
family grave-yard, which had been undis- 
turbed for fifty-two years, was opened to re- 
ceive the remains of Mary Hopkins Cabell 
Breckenridge. In a few years their bodies 
were removed to the cemetery at Lexington, 
where they sleep with the dust of many of 
those whose lives made our state illustrious. 



8o Kentucky Pioneei" Women. 



MRS. HONORABLE JOHN BRECKENRIDGE. 



The red haws are ripe on the white thorne trees, 

The boughs at the casement sway soft in the breeze; 
The shadows of evening, the quiet of repose 

Bring life's feverish haste to a grateful close. 
A sound breaks the silence ; 't is the hour of prayer, 

The voice of a mother implores divine care; 
To the God of the fatherless she lifts up her voice, 

The God of her fathers, the God of her choice; 
And her voice on the white wings of faith soars above, 

Reaching heaven with a mother's petition of love. 
That prayer has been answered, — the promise of old, — 

"Thou and thy children generations untold, 
Because thou hast sought thy help from above. 

Shall live in my fear and be safe in my love." 
Her children's children we have seen, a noble line, 

In whose fair renown her strength and beauty shine. 



Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckenridge. 8; 

Spouse of a noble lord, she exalted his name, 

Bereft by his death, she heightened his fame, 

The lot of the widow gave room for her powers, 

Shining most brightly when darkness most lowers. 



82 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 



HENRIETTA HUNT MORGAN. 



Henrietta Hunt Morgan, daughter of Col- 
onel John W. Hunt, and sister of Honorable 
Francis Keys Hunt, one of Kentucky's great- 
est lawyers, was born in Lexington, Ky., in 
1805, and in 1823, married Governor Calvin 
C. Morgan, who came of old Virginia stock. 
The family line of the Morgans, like that of 
the Hunts, reaches back into New England 
and New York, including many distinguished 
names of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Morgan 
was the mother of two of Kentucky's most 
famous sons. Colonel Cal. Morgan and Gen- 
eral John Morgan. Also of Colonel Richard 



Henrietta Hunt Morgari. 83 

Morgan, Major Charlton H. Morgan, Lieu- 
tenant Thomas Morgan, and of the wives of 
General Basil W. Duke and General A. P. 
Hill. 

A lady of devout religious character and 
broad charity, she left the impress of her 
kind and loving spirit not alone on her im- 
mediate family, but upon a large number of 
devoted friends. 

Mrs. Morgan died in Lexington, Ky., No- 
vember 15, 1 89 1, at the age of eighty-six, at 
the family mansion where she had resided 
for half a century. 



84 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 



MRS. GOVERNOR CALVIN C. MORGAN. 



Heir of a noble line, thy worth shall memory keep, 

And at thy tomb the "gallant remnant" come to weep; 

II- 

At eve, when the last ray is fading in the west, 
At morn, when earth in glorious light is dressed, 

III. 

O'er thy sacred dust they drop affection's tear. 

And mourn for thee and for the cause lost but dear. 

IV. 

Thy life in all good things did have a part, 

Thy name will linger long in many a loving heart. 



Susan Lucy Barry Taylor. 85 



Susan Lucy Barry Taylor. 



Of the same generation, a friend and 
classmate of Mrs. Morgan, was Susan Lucy 
Barry Taylor, daughter of the eloquent Will- 
iam T. Barry and Lucy Overton. She was 
born in 1807, at Lexington, Ky., and was 
educated at the La Fayette Academy at that 
place. 

It was prophetic of her life work, that in 
1822, when hwtfifteeii years old, she delivered 
at the annual examination of her school a 
fervid plea for the higher education of woman. 
Modestly claiming only "that she is capable 
of receiving instruction, of comprehending the 



86 Kentucky Pio7ieer Women. 

science of numbers, of learning languages, of 
following the explorations of science, and of 
mental discipline through logic and philos- 
ophy," the young girl pleads that "proud 
man" will permit women to spend some of 
their hours in improving their minds. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the fol- 
lowing thought expressed by the enthusiastic 
girl had not a more ample fulfillment in the 
pioneer history of our own State. She says 
in her essay: 

" History is no longer confined to the 
exploits and achievements of men, but is 
proud to have its brightest pages adorned 
with the names of women distinguished for 
learning, for patriotism, for high and heroic 
virtue." 

No better field was ever offered than the 



Susan Lucy Barry Taylor. 87 

pioneer women of Kentucky for the historic 
muse to celebrate "the patriotism and the 
hio^h and heroic virtues " of women. 

Susan Lucy Barry was married to Colonel 
James Taylor, at Frankfort, Ky., in 1824, and 
afterward made her home at Newport. Her 
whole subsequent life was a daily practice of 
social and domestic virtues. With dignity and 
firmness to enforce respect; with culture and 
grace to win and hold admiration ; with a 
sense of duty that ennobled even ordinary 
household work, she was unconsciously a 
model and an instructor. Her religious con- 
victions were deep and abiding. Her dislike 
of affectation and pretense was open and un- 
disguised. This feeling applied especially to 
"fashionable education," to artificial manners, 
to pretended friendship, and to the whole 



88 Kentucky Pioneer Woine7i. 

round of things hollow and insincere. With 
ample wealth to gratify every desire, she 
found satisfaction only in an unostentatious 
and useful life. Recreations without improve- 
ment, and amusements undignified or frivo- 
lous aroused no interest in one so elevated 
and serious ; but her kindly sympathy with 
others, and her desire to add to their enjoy- 
ment made her participate and even aid in 
all innocent pleasures. This was especially 
true of the pastimes of children and youth. 
For her own part she kept up her knowledge 
of the classics, was a reader of history, and had 
Milton and Shakespeare for her favorite poets. 
She looked well to the ways of her house- 
hold, helped the helpless, and pitied the suf- 
fering. She died at the old family mansion, 
Newport, Ky., December 8, 1881. 



Susan Lucy Barry Taylor. 89 

Her children living are Mrs. Colonel 
Thomas L. Jones and Mrs. Colonel James 
W. Abert, ladies of culture and refinement, 
and Colonel John B. Taylor, widely and pop- 
ularly known. Her children deceased were 
Mr. James Taylor, Colonel Barry Taylor, and 
Mrs. Dr. R. W. Saunders, who was greatly 
beloved. 



90 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 



SUSAN LUCY BARRY TAYLOR. 



Heir of genius, taught in lofty ways, 
Where great affairs were daily themes, 
A fitting pioneer in later days 
In noble things and worthy aims ; 
Thy name is now upon the scroll 
Of those who worthily have wrought; 
And so with loving hand, we thee enroll 
With those who lived the better life, 
The highest purpose sought. 



Mary Yellott Johnston. 91 



MARY YELLOTT JOHNSTON. 



Mary Yellott Dashiell was born Septem- 
ber 13, 1806, at the parsonage of St. Peter's 
Church, Baltimore, Md. Daughter of Rev. 
George Dashiell, D.D., rector of St. Peter's 
Church, Baltimore, and a man of great learn- 
ing and piety. Her mother's maiden name 
was Esther Handy. She was a neice of 
Governor Winder, of Maryland, making Mrs. 
Johnston a great niece of that distinguished 
gentleman. 

Mrs. Johnston was married three times. 
Her first husband was Jacob Madeira, a prom- 
inent lawyer of Cincinnati, O. Her second 



92 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

husband was Isaac Greathouse, of Kentucky, 
Her third husband was Phillip Johnston, of 
Kentucky. Her children living" are Mrs. 
Lewis Casey, Rev. Addison Madeira, D.D., 
and Mrs. Stephenson. 

Mrs. Johnston is connected with a number 
of prominent families. Among them are the 
Dashiells, Handys, Harrisons, Hancocks, Bay- 
ards, Randolphs, Warders, and Percys. 

Mrs. Johnston is a woman of strong re- 
ligious convictions and perfect faith. She was 
raised an Episcopalian, but coming west at an 
early day, where there was no Episcopalian 
Church, she united with the Presbyterian 
Church, of which she has been a member for 
fifty years. 



Mary Yellott Johnsto7i. 93 



MRS. MARY YELLOTT JOHNSTON. 

I. 

Surrounded by true love and care 

The evening of your life draws nigh ; 

The ruddy firelight glints your hair, 
The old time light is in your eye ; 

As you recall those olden days, 

The friends you loved, the deeds you praise, 



IL 

The portraits mute upon the wall, 

Look down as if they would recall 

Some scene, some words you 've left unsaid 
In memory of the honored dead. 



94 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

III. 

One portrait smiling from the walls, 

On which the dancing fire-light falls, 

With chestnut hair and eyes of blue ; 
Looks wonderingly, 't is surely you. 

IV. 

And now a soft hand smoothes your hair, 
"fis Eleanor's, the good and fair. 

What lovelier picture could the canvas show, 
A glimpse of heaven here below. 

Beautiful in youth, beloved in age. 

Your name in honor 's writ upon the page. 



Margaret Wickliffe Pj-eston. 95 



MARGARET WiCKLIFFE PRESTON. 



The following sketch by Colonel R. T. 
Durrett gives such a correct and graphic 
picture of Mrs. Preston that it is inserted 
entire : 

Mrs. Margaret Wickliffe Preston is one 
of the first grand ladies of the olden time 
now left among us. She was born in Lex- 
ington, Ky., in 1819, and as the daughter of 
Robert Wickliffe had every advantage which 
ancestry, social position, wealth, and educa- 
tion could confer upon her. She was a bright 
girl, and enjoyed the full measure of the high 
educational advantages of her day. But few 



96 Ke7itucky Pioneer Women. 

of the girls of her time were as capable as 
she of taking the full advantages of the 
hipfher branches of education, and but few 
women have since equaled her in the use of 
the culture and accomplishments, which made 
her a shining light wherever she went. When 
her husband was appointed minister to Spain, 
Mrs. Preston appeared as brightly in the pol- 
ished society of Madrid and Paris as she did 
at home. She was so intellectual, so bricrht, 
and so cultured that she was as much at home 
in the Spanish and French courts as she was 
in her native Lexington. Among my most 
pleasing recollections of Louisville society 
are the entertainments by the Prestons during 
the fifties. No one ever arranged more ele- 
gantly for a dinner party, or presided with 
more grace than Mrs. Preston. She is now 



t 



Margaret Wickliffe Preston. 97 

advanced in years, but still, with her wonder- 
ful conversational powers, is so entertaining 
that she is the center of attraction wherever 
she appears. She resided in Louisville after 
her marriage to General Wm. Preston, in 
1840, until she went with her husband to the 
Spanish court, in 1858. After the Civil War, 
in which she suffered greatly, she settled in 
her ancestral home in Lexington, where she 
now resides — in such a home as a princess 
might covet ; and no other princess is needed 
to make it a princely abode. 



98 Kentucky Pioneer Women. 

MRS. GENERAL WILLIAM PRESTON. 

I. 

Daughter of a noble line, princess by right divine 
Of gracious womanhood, fair and good ; 

A child, thy path was strewn with flowers, 
In girlhood's opening, sunny hours. 

XL 

The stately lily, fair and sweet. 

The modest violet at thy feet; 
The blushing rose in crimson dressed; 

Are types of loveliness by thee possessed. 

in. 

Our first grand lady of the olden time, 

Whose name is writ on history's page sublime; 

In Spanish courts, grandees of highest birth 
Bent low the knee in homage to thy worth. 



Margaret IVickliffc Preston. 99 

IV. 

In Paris, among the flower of tlie young noblesse, 

What high-born dame could match th)^ gay finesse? 

Walking through palace halls with courtly tread, 
Kentucky's daughter, but a princess bred. 



Home again, the fair City of the Falls 

Has witnessed gatherings in thine own halls, 

At which, presiding with a princess' grace, 

The honored guest felt honored in his place. 

VI. 

And now, when sunset's gold around thee throws 
A warmer coloring, as at evening's close, 

The gold and crimson, softened by twilight's pensive ray. 
More beauteous seem than all the garish light of day; 

We sing thy praise, while evening's golden light 
Its benediction sheds upon the coming night. 



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